09. Reactor 4 Robots
Many of you will know the plight of the initial liquidators which were sent to the roof of the crumbling Reactor 4 roof to clear the roof of radioactive debris.
Young soldiers were given the choice of two year on the front line of bloody Afghanistan, or 20 seconds on the roof of the plant, with all the vodka they could drink. It was an easy choice.
They were told safety was paramount, and therefore they would only be allowed on the roof for 20 seconds. They took the vodka, they were told it would save them as the radiation would just pass through their system along with the vodka. They weren’t given any official uniform or protection so many decided to fashion their own from leather, and any lead they could find.
They were sent up in pairs, every 20 seconds, for 24 hours a day, for 3 weeks.
All bar a handful were dead within a week of going on the roof.
By that time engineers had built robots to go and take the job of the seemingly disposable humans. The first few that went up have never been seen since: They ignored all commands from their operator, and all headed straight for the hole into the reactor core. Seemingly committing suicide rather than facing the agonising death of their human predecessors.
Some however made it back.
Despite researching the zone for hundreds of hours: I’ve never seen any photographs of these before, so felt quite proud of myself for spotting them in a small non-descript, un marked paddock in Chernobyl town.
2014 Update:
When I revisited these in 2014 there had been a major refurbishment. The robots had all been given a lick of paint, the types inflated, and axle stands introduced to relieve the pressure on the tyres.
Young soldiers were given the choice of two year on the front line of bloody Afghanistan, or 20 seconds on the roof of the plant, with all the vodka they could drink. It was an easy choice.
They were told safety was paramount, and therefore they would only be allowed on the roof for 20 seconds. They took the vodka, they were told it would save them as the radiation would just pass through their system along with the vodka. They weren’t given any official uniform or protection so many decided to fashion their own from leather, and any lead they could find.
They were sent up in pairs, every 20 seconds, for 24 hours a day, for 3 weeks.
All bar a handful were dead within a week of going on the roof.
By that time engineers had built robots to go and take the job of the seemingly disposable humans. The first few that went up have never been seen since: They ignored all commands from their operator, and all headed straight for the hole into the reactor core. Seemingly committing suicide rather than facing the agonising death of their human predecessors.
Some however made it back.
Despite researching the zone for hundreds of hours: I’ve never seen any photographs of these before, so felt quite proud of myself for spotting them in a small non-descript, un marked paddock in Chernobyl town.
2014 Update:
When I revisited these in 2014 there had been a major refurbishment. The robots had all been given a lick of paint, the types inflated, and axle stands introduced to relieve the pressure on the tyres.
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